


To Believe

by masterrevan51



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Claude von Riegan Needs a Hug, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd Needs a Hug, Edelgard von Hresvelg Needs a Hug, Friendship, Gen, Gender-Neutral My Unit | Byleth, Grief/Mourning, Healing, Khalid von Riegan, Pain, Racism, Song - Freeform, Spoilers, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23604526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterrevan51/pseuds/masterrevan51
Summary: Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri have felt a lot of pain. Still, they learn to believe again.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & My Unit | Byleth, Edelgard von Hresvelg & My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth & Claude von Riegan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	To Believe

_ First thing first,  _

_ I’ma say all the words inside my head _

_ I’m fired up and tired of the way  _

_ That things have been oh-ooh  _

_ The way that things have been,  _

_ Oh-ooh  _

Edelgard writhes as the faceless people above her tear her body open, feeling a sense of  _ wrongness  _ engulf her entire being as she feels something enter her,  _ burning  _ its way through her body until it sinks into her bones. 

Khalid stays down this time, letting them have their fun. He grunts as their feet kick into his sides, before they get bored and walk away. So what if he was different? So what if his mother was from Fodlan? He curled up, hoping the pain of their words and fists would go away soon. 

Dimitri runs, runs from the monsters who killed them. Glenn is dead, Mother is dead, Father is dead, they’re all dead! He sobs, almost wanting to scream from the agony of it all. As he collapses, the pain in his heart grows, feeling maddening in its suffering. 

  
  


_ Second things second  _

_ Don’t you tell me what you think  _

_ That I can be  _

_ I’m the one at the sail, I’m the  _

_ Master of my sea, oh-ooh  _

_ The master of my sea, oh-ooh  _

Edelgard stares up at the sun, feeling it sink into her bones. She mourns for her siblings, who would never see this light again. Never play in the palace as they all had, Before. She stares down at her hands, knowing the power of the new Crest hidden within them. She hates it. She grips her arms, wishing she could tear out what  _ they  _ had done to her. She feels her sense of safety shattering.

Khalid watches the city out the window. It’s nighttime, but he likes that. Likes that he can watch without being watched. Likes that people aren’t looking at him like he’s  _ wrong  _ just for being there. He knows they will the next time they see him. That the servants will keep whispering. That they will all remain silent to his face. That his mother and father either can’t or won’t stop it. He feels his sense of trust shattering. 

Dimitri screams until his lungs are hoarse. He screams and screams, but nobody is listening. It’s not Duscur. Duscur didn’t do it. Those monsters weren’t from Duscur. But nobody cares. They  _ want  _ to hurt Duscur. His family’s murders are just an excuse. He hears that word has come from the Archbishop. Surely they’ll listen to her! But she’s saying the same thing. Claiming that it was Duscur. He feels his sense of faith shattering. 

  
  


_ I was broken from a young age  _

_ Taking my soul into the masses  _

_ Write down the poems for the few  _

_ That looked at me took to me, shook _

_ To me, feeling me  _

Edelgard stares out from the carriage. Her uncle was taking her away. Away, just like  _ they  _ had taken her. She couldn’t leave. She’s tried to run, twice. But he caught her, and told her she needed to stay with him. She stares at the scenery as it grows colder, like that place. She hopes never to see it again. 

Khalid is hiding in the family crypts, again. Here, the pain is weaker, where he can pretend that his ancestors welcome him as one of them, and dry his tears. He had thought that it was real this time. That the boy had wanted to be his friend. Stupid. Nobody ever wanted to be his friend. 

Dimitri stares at the body. He had been forced to lead a force into Duscur. He hadn’t wanted to. But the men don’t listen to him when he says it’s not Duscur’s fault. Nobody does. And now he stares at the body of the person he had killed. He wasn’t much older than Dimitri. If they had met anywhere else, Dimitri would wave, and maybe say hello. Was this war? Why did everyone want it? 

  
  


_ Singing from heartache from the  _

_ Pain  _

_ Take up my message from the  _

_ Veins  _

_ Speaking my lesson from the  _

_ Brain  _

_ Seeing the beauty through the  _

_ Pain!  _

Edelgard looks at the knife. He had given it to her, right before she left. He had been her friend. She isn’t sure why he gave her the knife, but she likes it. Likes that she has a weapon. It doesn’t make her feel safe. She doesn’t think anything will. But she feels like she can do something. Like she can find a path. Maybe she can. Maybe she can change things. 

Khalid wonders what Fodlan is like. He wonders why it has closed itself off from the rest of the world. The world is amazing. Yes, there are bad things, like how people treat him for being different, but there are good things, too! There’s so many different sights to see, so many mysteries of the world out there. He wants to see the mysteries of Fodlan. He wants to see if people will judge him there, too. 

Dimitri clings to the boy. The men want to kill him, but Dimitri stays firm. He will not let anyone else die. He will not keep letting Duscur pay the price for his weakness. He will stop this war. He will protect this boy, and maybe the dead will be happy. Maybe they will be happy that he is stopping this false justice being used to smear their names. The boy introduces himself as Dedue. 

  
  


_ Third things third  _

_ Send a prayer to the ones up  _

_ Above  _

_ All the hate that you’ve heard has  _

_ Turned your spirit to a dove, oh-ooh  _

_ Your spirit up above, oh-ooh  _

Edelgard examines what she knows. The world is not as anyone thinks it is. The Church controls everything. These shadowy figures are in a war against it, and a war to control Fodlan. Something needs to change. The Crest system needs to burn. Crests must be destroyed, and the control of the world needs to leave the hands of The Immaculate One. She will enact that change. No matter the cost, she will make sure that nobody is harmed by Crests ever again. 

Khalid frowns. He has met his grandfather. The man is nice, but the rest of Fodlan… they don’t even see Almyrans as  _ people _ . It disturbs him. The Church tells people that the only ones who matter live in Fodlan, but that isn’t true. The world has built up these barriers, and it’s wrong. It shouldn’t be like this. He’ll do something about it. His grandfather wants him to inherit leadership of the Alliance. He can use that. He will use it. He’ll break down the barriers of the world, so that others can stride forward, together. Even if he has to call himself  _ Claude _ . 

Dimitri walks through the castle in the depths of the night. The dead are not pacified. Of course not. He needs to find the people who killed them. That figure with the flaming mask and their followers. He will find them. He will kill them, and bring about vengeance for the dead. He will not let war bring such suffering to others. And he will make amends to Duscur. These are his duties. He will not fail in them. Even if nobody else understands the suffering in the world the way he does, he will not falter in his duty. 

  
  


_ I was choking in the crowd  _

_ Building my rain up in the cloud  _

_ Falling like ashes to the ground  _

_ Hoping my feelings, they would drown  _

_ But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing  _

_ Inhibited, limited  _

_ Till it broke open and rained down _

_ And rained down, like _

_ Pain!  _

Edelgard looks around Garreg Mach. The numerous students here go about, blindly living their lives without any sense of the danger they’re all in. Hubert is the only one here who knows, and who she trusts. So many of them have such a blind faith in the Church, without any idea of what kind of monster is in control of it. She feels some level of interest in her fellow Black Eagles. Some of them might be good allies, or even- no. She stops that thought where it is. Still, she wonders if there’s someone out there who could truly help her feel safe. Who would stand by her of their own volition. 

Claude slips through the library. There are so many secrets in Garreg Mach, he wonders how he’ll ever find them all. He’s the leader of the Golden Deer, though some of them clearly don’t agree with that. Still. They’re fun to be around, and he enjoys spending time with them. Unlike some of the soldiers, none of the other Deer have said anything about his looks, that he’s heard, at least. But he’ll keep his origins quiet. He very much doubts that they’ll be accepting of him being Almyran. Sometimes he wonders if there’s someone who isn’t family who’d just… trust him. Someone he could trust. The odds of finding that person are low, so he’ll content himself with his plans. 

Dimitri slowly brings his training to a close. So many of the Blue Lions are people he’s known for years. Yet outside of Felix, who hates him, they all unflinchingly look to him as their leader. As a good person, without the demons inside him. He wonders how they would react, if they knew who he truly is. What he truly is. If they knew how every food turns to ash in his mouth, and how the dead scream for the blood of their murderers. He wonders what it’s like, having such faith in someone. He wonders if there’s someone out there he could put his faith in again. Someone who would stand by him as an equal, rather than constantly looking up to him as a leader. 

  
  


_ Last things, last  _

_ By the grace of the fire and the flames  _

_ You’re the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh-ooh  _

_ The blood in my veins, oh-ooh  _

_ But they never did, ever lived, ebbing and flowing  _

_ Inhibited, limited  _

_ Till it broke open and rained down  _

_ And rained down…  _

Edelgard catches herself relaxing again. She can’t help it. Even if she knows that her teacher will probably side with the Church when the truth comes out, she can’t help it. Byleth had saved her life, and if she’s being honest, that’s the least of it. They had comforted her from her nightmares, and stayed up with her when she couldn’t sleep. She can’t help but feel safe with them. And she realizes that it helps her open up with the other Black Eagles. She feels as if she can reach out, as if maybe, she doesn’t have to live the rest of her life in danger. She can’t help but believe in them. 

Claude doesn’t mean to tell Byleth these things. But he can’t help it. They answer his questions, and they accept his dodges without judging. They truly seem not to care about how secretive he’s being, and he can’t help but trust them for it. They trust him. They  _ trust  _ him. The joy he feels knowing that keeps him smiling, real smiles, not the fake ones he’s always using. He’s bonding with the Golden Deer, too. They’re starting to trust him, slowly, just as he’s slowly starting to trust them. But he trusts Teach. They’re so kind about it. He can’t help but believe in them. 

  
Dimitri follows Byleth’s lead. It’s odd, how natural it feels. But they don’t judge him, when he reveals his reasons for being at Garreg Mach. They treat him as if he were any other student, and he  _ loves  _ it. They freely open up to being imperfect, but that makes him place even more faith in them. And he feels more approachable to the other Blue Lions. He feels closer to Sylvain and Ingrid than he has in years. Somehow, by placing his faith in Byleth, they’ve helped him feel more like he’s worthy of the faith his classmates place in him. He can’t help but believe it. 


End file.
